In the medieval times, congregational singing was not practiced due to the regulations put
in place by the Council of Laodicea however, it is encouraging to say that true Christians will
never stop singing. Even though we experience different setbacks when it comes to
congregational singing, we still find Christians professing their faith through songs no matter
how few when worship goes on in a church gathering. Also, we find songs of praise consistently
springing forth from every generation of believers even until today.
Amidst all this, there were a few bright spots during this somewhat dark and silent period
in the Church – musically, at least. Jason Mason Neale contributed to many hymns we still sing
today. “Some of the hymns found in our hymnbooks today hail from medieval days… we owe
Neale an enormous debt of gratitude.”1 Without his assiduous work to compose and translate
hymns of his time, our hymnals today would be much less dense musically and scripturally.
Bernard of Cluny, one of the two famous medieval “Bernard’s,” wrote a great, three-
thousand-line poem that later turned into many different beautiful hymns. “Bernard’s poem is
full of warnings about the judgment of God, but he also bursts into glorious language when
describing the hope of heaven.”2
Bernard of Clairvaux established a famous French monastery that contributed to the
progress of the Christian faith and ministry training during the dark medieval period. It is said
that “probably no man during his lifetime ever exercised a personal influence in Christendom
equal to his,” and if we did not have his contribution to the medieval period, we would not be
who we are as a modern Church.3
1 Robert J. Morgan, Then Sings My Soul, The Story of Our Songs: Drawing Strength from the Great
Hymns of Our Faith (Nashville, TN: W Publishing, 2011), 25.
2
Ibid., 27.
3 Ibid., 29.
Lastly, during this time St. Francis of Assisi penned the great lyrics to the infamous hymn
“All Creatures of Our God and King,” which is still widely sung today throughout many
Christian denominations. Francis of Assisi was one of the only leaders of his time to “emphasize
congregational singing and wrote hymns and songs in the language of the people set to popular
melodies.”4 He also believed that each man should pray to God in their own natural tongue and
his works were considered to be of great Christian value. All four of these men paved the way for
the modern generation of worship music by composing timeless music for the Church and
creating avenues for Christ-followers to engage in worship.
4 Elmer L. Towns & Vernon M. Whaley, Worship Through the Ages, (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group,
2012), 89.
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